You can be sure of how the patient’s condition will change in three to five days?

Faced with Yamada’s question,

Li Xu’s gaze was firm.

"In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we emphasize strategic planning. The progression of a disease follows a pattern. As long as your diagnosis is accurate and you grasp the pathogenesis, it will follow the course you’ve anticipated. It’s like playing chess—you have to see three, or even five, moves ahead."

Li Xu then said to Lin Guorui,

"If you notice anything different from what I’ve described, call me immediately. I’ll be seeing patients here at the hospital for the next couple of days."

With that, he looked at the patient’s daughter, who was still in a daze, and said gently, "Go get the medicine. The old man will make it through this."

Those words, "he will make it through," were like a ray of light, instantly illuminating the daughter’s bleak world.

Tears of joy streamed down her face as she nodded repeatedly, then took the prescription to the pharmacy to have it filled.

Professor Yamada glanced at Li Xu, then back at the dying old man on the bed, an indescribable shock filling his heart.

’I’ll wait right here!’ he swore to himself.

’I’m going to see with my own eyes if this patient really starts coughing up yellow-green phlegm and passing dry stool, just like you said!’

’If it’s true...’

’...then this Li Xu is probably ten times more formidable than our intelligence reports assessed.’

The surrounding doctors from the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were still lost in thought over Li Xu’s prescription, their brows furrowed as they desperately tried to trace the logic of switching between the Three-Nut Decoction and the Minor Qi-Purging Decoction in their minds.

Most of them were still at the stage of understanding illness as a matter of "matching formulas to symptom patterns."

’What’s the pattern?’

’Phlegm-dampness obstructing the lungs? Use Er Chen Decoction.’

’What’s the pattern?’

’Yang-ming bowel excess? Use a Qi-Purging Decoction.’

This was textbook thinking, a necessary phase in the development of most doctors.

But what Li Xu had just demonstrated was on a completely different level.

He wasn’t treating the symptom pattern; he was treating the "mechanism."

He was deducing the evolution of the pathogenesis, predicting the course of the disease, and even actively guiding its development.

This level of skill left the doctors present feeling both shocked and deeply inadequate.

It was like elementary school students still memorizing multiplication tables suddenly watching someone solve a calculus equation on the blackboard. All they could feel was a sense of awe without any real understanding.

However...

Not everyone could grasp the gap in their abilities.

Dr. Caballo, the doctor from Africa, scratched his head, unable to hold back any longer.

He raised his hand like a curious child and asked, "Excuse me, Dr. Li... sorry to interrupt."

All eyes turned to him.

In slightly broken English, Caballo said, "Why not use one prescription for all six days, instead of this complicated method? The first and third prescriptions are the same, only the one for the two days in the middle is different..."

He spread his hands, a look of confusion on his face. "Since the beginning and end are the same, why change in the middle? Wouldn’t it be fine to just use the first prescription the whole time? What’s the reason?"

As soon as he said this, Director Lin Guorui, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but cover his face.

This was typical of a Western medical mindset, or perhaps more accurately, a rather basic, linear way of thinking.

Seeing this, Professor Yamada glanced at Caballo and shook his head helplessly.

He wanted to stop this foolish question.

But he also knew that if it wasn’t explained clearly, the African doctor would probably keep pestering them.

In truth, Yamada understood.

’Li Xu’s method isn’t something one can just casually learn.’

’It’s a Dragon Slaying Skill.’

’For an ordinary person, learning it would not only be useless, but it could even be harmful.’

’Because to prescribe medicine this way, you must have an absolutely precise, one might even say god-like, grasp of the patient’s condition.’

’If you misjudge any step along the way—for instance, if the patient’s condition doesn’t turn ’dry’ on schedule, or if it turns dry too early—the entire treatment plan will collapse.’

’An average doctor is better off sticking to the principle of "observing the pulse and symptoms to treat them as they arise"—in other words, taking it one step at a time.’

Li Xu, however, was quite patient.

He looked at Caballo and said with a smile, "Because the patient’s body is currently undergoing a ’shifting pattern.’"

"A shifting pattern?"

Caballo looked completely lost.

Li Xu continued to explain, "A so-called shifting pattern means there is a variable at play during the treatment phase of the illness."

He pointed to the old man on the bed. "The patient’s illness is fundamentally a ’spring plague,’ with a pattern of phlegm-fire disturbing the spirit and damp-turbidity obstructing the Middle Burner."

"The primary treatment strategy is to activate the Middle Burner to expel dampness and resolve phlegm, open the orifices, and awaken the spirit. For this, we use a modified Three-Nut Decoction. This is the main direction, the keynote of the treatment."

"However, the sole variable—the shifting pattern—lies with the stool inside the patient’s body."

At this point, Li Xu held up a finger. "The patient is weak and his righteous qi is deficient, so a long-term strategy of unblocking the bowels to purge heat is unsuitable. If I had started with a strong dose of Major Qi-Purging Decoction, his faint stomach qi would have been instantly shattered, and he would have died."

"After the first two doses of the Three-Nut Decoction, however, we can effectively separate the clear from the turbid and promote the flow of qi. Following this treatment, the patient’s Middle Burner will be activated and his stomach qi will have recovered slightly. But at the same time, the pathogenic qi in his body will begin to transform into dryness."

"It’s like when you’re sweeping a floor. You first have to stir up the dust and gather it all in one place."

"At that point, we use the Minor Qi-Purging Decoction to unblock the bowels and expel the pathogen—giving it a gentle push, so to speak—allowing the pestilential toxin to be eliminated with the stool."

"This is like sweeping the gathered dust out the door."

"Afterward, with the pathogen gone, the righteous qi can stabilize. But some residual pathogen and damp-turbidity will remain, so we return to the original Three-Nut Decoction to clean up the rest and consolidate the therapeutic effect."

Li Xu’s explanation, with its simple yet profound analogy, allowed everyone present to grasp the basics of his reasoning.

’So that’s how it is.’

’This isn’t just prescribing medicine; it’s practically waging a war!’

’First, lure the enemy in deep, then gather and annihilate them, and finally, clean up the battlefield.’

’Every step is methodical, and every link is connected.’

But...

It was precisely because they understood Li Xu’s logic that they felt even more bewildered by him, with even less of a sense of the true depths of his skill.

’Everyone understands the principle, but who would dare to actually do it?’

’Who could possibly calculate with such precision?’

Several doctors in the exchange group who had initially been skeptical were now silent.

Before they arrived, they couldn’t help but have their doubts.

’A young man in his twenties, hyped up to be some kind of legend... is it all just for show?’

’Is he just the product of some kind of political correctness?’

’Or does he just have connections to some big shot?’

Throughout history, there has been no shortage of famous doctors who were merely puffed up by hype.

Therefore, everyone was eager to see if Li Xu truly had the skills to back it up.

But now...

Although the patient hadn’t even started the medicine, let alone shown much improvement...

...after that diagnostic analysis, which felt more like a university lecture, everyone was left with that feeling of being impressed without fully understanding.

They didn’t really comprehend the profound TCM theory, but...

...they felt in their minds that Li Xu’s ability was like a towering mountain, utterly insurmountable.

It was an instinctive reverence for an ultimate level of professional expertise.

Li Xu just smiled and didn’t explain any further.